


Of friends and families

by fullmoon02



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 08:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17484983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmoon02/pseuds/fullmoon02
Summary: Spock and Bones meet Joanna and Spock learns something new about his old friend.





	Of friends and families

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spyrograph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spyrograph/gifts).



> Huge thanks to my beta for their comments and suggestions!

"How do you find your salad, Mr. Spock?"

Looking up from his plate, Spock nodded:

"It is quite enjoyable, thank you."

"I chose this place specifically because of their salads. Not many places here have good vegetarian options."

"I appreciate you taking my dietary preferences into account."

Leonard bowed his head to hide his smile. Joanne with her good manners and Spock, a Vulcan with an ambassador as a father, made quite a pair. Their light and polite discussion also reminded him of his old, simpler life of the husband, father, and country doctor. Before all the space adventuring, transportation devices scattering his atoms around the universe, and before the responsibility of being the CMO of Starfleet’s flagship. Joanne had wanted to know all about his space adventures and while they were discussing, Leonard understood he would never go back to his old life. Not that he could, but he also wouldn’t. He had a new life now, alongside his captain, and Spock, and his amazing crew in the medbay.

They had discussed Joanne's new job, Leonard had queried about her potential romantic interests, and Spock, to give them an illusion of privacy, had focused on his salad.

"And how's your mother doing?"

He knew Leonard asked this mostly out of courtesy. He had spent enough evenings sharing drinks with the doctor to know there was no love lost between Leonard and his former wife, even if Leonard loved their daughter. While Spock was familiar with these social niceties of humans, he did find them unproductive and somewhat illogical.

"She's good." The reply spoke volumes in its conciseness, her lighter and friendlier tone coming down a notch. After a pause, she continued: "But I would much prefer focus on how you’ve been doing."

Spock knew the answer before Leonard opened his mouth. "I'm good."

Kirk would have smiled at that, perhaps giving a huffed laugh of amused exasperation. Spock looked up from his salad and noticed Joanna’s eyes narrowing slightly. Under her breath, Joanna muttered something that sounded like "of course you are."

Spock’s eyebrow crept up at that. He knew Leonard often put other people’s needs before his own, a tendency he would keep criticizing the doctor for but which also made him such a great doctor. Spock had discussed the subject with Kirk and while Kirk agreed with him, they had also realized this was simply how Leonard was and one of the ways his empathic nature showed under all the outbursts and temperament. Still, Spock was surprised to find Leonard was reluctant to talk about his feelings even with those closest to him, in settings that had nothing to do with his work. Why was that?

The look Leonard gave discouraged any further discussion, but Joanna was clearly as stubborn as her father. Turning to look at Spock, she continued:

"He's always had this habit of downplaying his own needs and wants. He’s afraid of showing vulnerability..."

"Jo..."

"...but I had hoped he would have softened somewhat over the years. At least among friends, you know?"

While it was a rhetorical question, Spock couldn't help but nod under Joanna’s intense gaze. She had her father’s eyes. Baby-blues, someone had called them.

"Fascinating.”

"Oh, don't you start!"

Spock’s stoic reaction to Leonard’s outburst made Joanna smile as it told her Spock knew how her father was rarely genuinely angry, he was just temperamental.

"That’s his way of testing if he can really trust someone. He tries to drive you away before starting to lean on you.”

" _He_ is sitting right here," Leonard cut in, looking from Joanna to Spock.

Spock nodded. He knew enough of human psychology to know that was one of the methods used by humans to test the strength of their relationship with someone they didn’t yet know well. Still, knowing something, in theory, was much different from recognizing it in practice. While he would be hesitant to admit it, he had learned to enjoy his bantering with their good doctor. Still, it only now clicked that showing his acerbic nature was Leonard’s way of showing his trust towards his friends. Learning this now gave Spock an odd sense of pride, even if he often described himself incapable of feeling such emotions.

He would never say it out loud, but both Leonard and Kirk had managed to get under his skin and made him feel amusement, companionship, and love. He cared for Leonard and was genuinely taken when both Leonard and Joanna had wanted him to join their meeting. He would need to meditate on this later, and perhaps discuss with the captain, but he already felt a deepened understanding of his temperamental, passionate and emphatic human, one of his dearest friends in the world.


End file.
